In Your Box:

• Basil
• Beans
• Broccolini
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Garlic, “Music”
• Head lettuce
• Red onions
• Summer Squash
• Tomatoes

Farm News

Last week we enjoyed a family vacation to the sand dunes and beaches of Michigan’s west coast. We had a great time away, reconnecting with some friends from college and swimming every chance we had. We also survived driving through Chicago–twice! We only started taking summer vacations a couple years ago, and it’s really done a lot to prioritize family time and take a break from the daily stress of running a farm.

Thank you all so much for your understanding and support as we took a week away from CSA delivery. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to clean out your fridge and finish any veggies that might have been lurking in there. We’ll finish up the season with eight more weeks of delivery after today, so there is still a lot to come!

Overall, the farm was still in good shape when we got back. The weeds and zucchini decided they didn’t need a vacation, and kept on growing to mammoth size. I’ll be busy attacking weeds and removing oversized squash, but everything else looks good. We’ve settled into a nice rain pattern, which has really set us up well for harvesting into the fall. 

This week’s box

As we move toward the peak of tomato season in the next couple weeks, I do expect to have a surplus available for freezing and canning. If you are interested in purchasing extras, I offer 10 lb boxes of meaty tomatoes for $30. Just send me an email if you are interested and I’ll let you know as soon as they are available.

The onions this week are a red heirloom variety called “Red Long of Florence.” They are a torpedo style onion, recognizable by their elongated shape. These didn’t size up very well this year, especially compared to our sweet onions. Let me know if you’re crazy about them, because otherwise I think I’ll drop them in favor of more of the larger red onions we also grow.

This week’s garlic is a variety called “Music,” named for Al Music, a Canadian farmer who brought it over from Italy and popularized it for growing in North America. Music has some of the largest cloves and the most mild flavor of the varieties we grow.

Music garlic is great for roasting and makes a great spread. To roast garlic, keep the cloves attached to the bulb. First remove any loose layers from the outside of the garlic. Then chop off the top of the bulb, straight through the stem about ¼” to ½” from the top of the garlic cloves. You should be able to see the top of the garlic itself with some wrapping still around the outside. Drizzle 2 TB of olive oil on top of the exposed cloves and then wrap the whole bulb in tin foil. Set on a baking sheet and bake at 400 deg for at least 30 minutes. Check for caramelizing and continue baking if necessary. Once done, the cloves should squeeze out of their skins. We like the roasted garlic with basil and tomatoes on crackers or bread.

Marinated Cucumber Tomato Salad

From Asparagus to Zucchini, 3rd ed.

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers, sliced into rounds
• 4 large tomatoes, sliced into rounds
• ½ c. thinly sliced red onion
• ½ c. extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ c. red wine vinegar
• 1 TB sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1 TB slivered fresh basil strips
• 1 TB chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Arrange cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions in a shallow serving dish. Mix oil, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl and pour over vegetables. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. Cover and let marinate for at least 1 hour and up to four hours. Sprinkle with herbs just before serving. (The leftover marinade makes a good dressing for salad greens)

Serves 6-8

Coming up

We are expecting kale, head lettuce, carrots, ground cherries or tomatillos, summer squash, cucumbers, sweet onions, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.